Ex-Goldman director Gupta paying $13.9M civil fine

WASHINGTON (AP) — The former Goldman Sachs board member convicted of insider trading is paying $13.9 million to settle related civil charges of feeding inside information to his friend, a billionaire hedge fund boss.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the fine Wednesday against Rajat Gupta, who was also permanently barred from serving as an officer or director of any public company. Gupta, a former chief of global consulting firm McKinsey & Co., was one of the biggest catches for the federal government in its five-year crackdown on insider trading that has brought about 70 criminal convictions.

Gupta was sentenced in October to two years in prison for passing confidential information gained from his position as a Goldman director to Raj Rajaratnam (rahj rah-juh-RUHT’-nuhm), founder of the Galleon group of 14 hedge funds.